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Former political adviser Tom Flanagan says viewing child porn shouldn’t be a crime

Tom Flanagan, the man behind Stephen Harper’s rise to power, the godfather of the rebirth of right-wing Canadian politics, transformed himself into a pariah yesterday.

Flanagan set off a firestorm Thursday, condoning the viewing of child pornography by saying it shouldn’t be a crime.

“I certainly have no sympathy for child molesters, but I do have some grave doubts about putting people in jail because of their taste in pictures,” Flanagan said Wednesday night during a small talk at the University of Lethbridge, later posted to YouTube. “I don’t look at these pictures.”

By mid-afternoon, the former Harper adviser and professor at the University of Calgary met an onslaught of criticism with an apology. Flanagan said his words “were badly chosen.”

But the damage was done. The Prime Minister’s Office called his comments “repugnant and appalling.” The CBC’s Power and Politics dumped him, saying his comments crossed the line, impacting his credibility. Wildrose Party Leader Danielle Smith said there was no language strong enough to condemn his comments and that the party would have no role with Flanagan. He was her campaign manager in 2012. Smith was his star student .

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“I absolutely condemn the sexual abuse of children, including the use of children to produce pornography,” Flanagan said Thursday in a statement.

The night before, Flanagan was at a talk to discuss Indian Act reform when he was asked about comments in 2009 at the University of Manitoba in which Flanagan said, “What’s wrong with child pornography — in the sense that it’s just pictures?”

His response was met with jeers from the crowed. Flanagan stumbled, and revealed his closest brush with child pornography was that he was on the mailing list for the North American Man/Boy Love Association (NAMBLA) for several years.

“So it is a real issue of personal liberty, to what extent we put people in jail for doing something in which they do not harm another person,” Flanagan said.

Coming to his defence was longtime friend and fellow University of Calgary colleague, Barry Cooper, calling it an issue of context.

“He basically reiterated that there are some civil liberties aspects of going after consumers rather than going after producers of child pornography.” Cooper said.

“In the twitterverse it then gets turned into Flanagan says kiddie porn is OK.”

In Ottawa, Heritage Minister James Moore praised CBC’s move to turf Flanagan, and called on the University of Calgary to follow suit.

“The demand for child pornography fuels the supply for child pornography. Any defence is unacceptable and disgusting,” Moore told reporters.

“The CBC did the right thing my firing Tom Flanagan. I think the University of Calgary should take similar steps,” Moore said.

The university has issued a statement Thursday that says Flanagan will be retiring from his job as a political science professor. His retirement is to begin when his six-month research and scholarship leave from the school ends in June.

Flanagan’s relationship with Harper has been on the outs since 2007, after Flanagan published Harper’s Team , an in-depth look at Harper’s rise to power.

As a pair of Reform Party members, they co-authored a 1997 article called Our Benign Dictatorship , condemning extended liberal rule as a stunt to democracy.

The backroom brain trust for the Reform and Conservative parties centered at the University of Calgary was dubbed the “Calgary School.”

In 2000, Flanagan published First Nations? Second Thoughts , his argument against “aboriginal orthodoxy” dismissed Firsts Nations as “first immigrants.”

Flanagan was once the right-hand man to Preston Manning, and was Harper’s chief adviser until 2004. He was brought back to serve in Harper’s successful 2005-06 election campaign as Harper’s senior communications adviser.

In the lead-up to the 2004 election, a profile of Flanagan in The Walrus asked Ezra Levant, a former student of Flanagan, about a report that referred to Flanagan as the “original godfather of the city’s conservative mafia.”

Levant’s response: “I call him Don Tomaso . . . . He is the master strategist, the godfather — even of Harper.”

But while tight-lipped on the campaign trail, Flanagan is notorious loose-lipped as a pundit.

In 2010, Flanagan apologized after saying on CBC that U.S. President Barack Obama “should put out a contract” on Wikileaks founder Julian Assange.

Harper accepted that apology, but Ottawa had a different message this time.

“Tom Flanagan’s comments on child pornography are repugnant and appalling,” said PMO press secretary Julie Vaux. “Flanagan in no way represents the views of the Conservative Party or of our Conservative government and has not done so for a long time.”

Smith released a statement Thursday saying the former campaign manager for the Wildrose Party “will have no role — formal or informal — with our organization going forward.”

The editor-in-chief of CBC News released a statement saying, “While we support and encourage free speech across the country and a diverse range of voices, we believe Mr. Flanagan’s comments to have crossed the line and impacted his credibility as a commentator for us.”

On the Hill, Conservatives moved fast to distance themselves, denouncing them as “reprehensible” and “totally inappropriate.”

“Take a seat in the back row somewhere. That’s just absolutely outrageous, unacceptable,” said Tory MP Daryl Kramp (Prince Edward—Hastings).

“Makes me question a person when I see and read and hear things like that,” he said.

Labour Minister Lisa Raitt lashed out at what he deemed “stunningly ignorant comments.”

“He doesn’t represent my views whatsoever,” Raitt said. “I’m really proud of the work we do . . . making sure that our kids are protected.”

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